According to recent reports, Twitter is starting to experiment with the ability to upvote or downvote Tweets.
Big social networks like Facebook and Twitter have traditionally moved away from reverse chronological feeds and timelines, relying instead on algorithms to surface more and more relevant content for their users. Could the upvote/downvote system used by others like Reddit, be applied where algorithms have failed? Both Facebook, and now Twitter, seem to think so.
While Facebook has been rolling out its downvote button to more users since May, Twitter has just started experimenting with an upvote/downvote system as well. As with all tests, this feature may never get a wider rollout. But why wouldn’t it? After all, algorithms have proven to be subpar at surfacing relevant content.
The test was spotted and tweeted by Matt Navarra recently, as it was shared at the Online News Association’s 2018 conference in Austin, TX.
Twitter is experimenting with UP and DOWN voting for tweets*
*but the concept may never go live#twitterfornews #ona18 pic.twitter.com/j2DqtOuYZV
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) September 16, 2018
I think the fact that Facebook is expanding the use of this system and that Twitter is considering it is a great step ahead. It just shows really that they have acknowledged to a certain degree that algorithms aren’t working in their best interest – or in the best interest of their users.
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